Considering how much experience Indiana lost at the end of last season, it would seem losing veteran leaders like Will Sheehey and Yogi Ferrell to the World University Games would temporarily halt the Hoosiers’ offseason back in Bloomington.

After all, without Sheehey and Ferrell, there are few players that have been around for more than a year. Sheehey and Ferrell are expected to lead the team next season, and they aren’t around to instill their will on the incoming freshmen.

But perhaps their absence can actually be viewed as a good thing. With Sheehey and Ferrell gone, other guys have been forced to step up.

“You don’t have Will and Yogi out there as much right now so it’s allowed some younger players to be vocal, to go ahead and know that’s the expectation,” associate head coach Steve McClain told the media on Tuesday. “It’s also allowed Jeremy [Hollowell], Hanner [Mosquera-Perea], who would probably take a little backseat to Will and to Yogi right now, to step up and be that returning veteran even though they’re only sophomores.

“It’s been a good mix to have those guys be away for a little bit.”

Earlier this summer, Tom Crean talked at length about how guys like Hollowell and Mosquera-Perea had to develop ‘desires to compete’ during the offseason. With many of last season’s leaders now either graduated, in the NBA or out of the country, Hollowell and Mosquera-Perea have had more of an opportunity to spread their wings and experiment a bit.

Specifically, associate head coach Tim Buckley said Mosquera-Perea has really had a strong offseason, for a couple of key reasons.

“I think anyone’s better doing something once they’ve already been through it,” Buckley said Tuesday. “How would you feel if you were Hanner and you had to walk in there every day and had to go against Cody Zeller? Would that really boost your confidence on a daily basis? Probably not. But he kept fighting and he kept working and he kept getting through it. And now what you see is a guy that’s much more confident because he’s been through that.”

If the Hoosiers are to remain a top 10 or 15 team next season, guys like Mosquera-Perea will have to dramatically increase their production from a year ago. He’s certainly got the talent to do so, but he looked uncomfortable on the court for much of his freshman year.

Here’s Buckley on some other guys that will have to produce immediately — Indiana’s six incoming freshman. He provided good analysis on each:

NOAH VONLEH

“Physically, he’s college ready. He’s very strong, very powerful. He’s very polished around the basket and explosive. He’s going to continue to develop his perimeter game. His attitude is as good as anyone’s attitude as I’ve ever seen, especially for someone as highly credentialed as him.”

STANFORD ROBINSON

“Stan Robinson fits the motor part. Sometimes he’ll go too fast, but it’s a lot easier to try to slow guys down than it is to hurry them up. His skill level is going to continue to get better. He’s pretty left-hand dominated right now. I think he’s going to be a very good shooter once the repetition of shooting exceeds the pressure of the game and the pressure of the practices. He’ll be a quality defender once he learns the schemes and the things we’re trying to do.”

TROY WILLIAMS

“He’s a phenomenal athlete, but as good a passer as he probably is an athlete. Once he gets to a point where the defense doesn’t know whether to close out on him hard or back off of him, that’s when he’s really gonna have the defense at his mercy.”

DEVIN DAVIS

“Devin Davis is a better basketball player than probably most people think. He’s kind of a hybrid, a mismatch type guy. He’s more athletic than he looks. He’ll just go up and dunk it and kind of surprise you with that at times, but he’s also pretty good at putting it on the floor. Does a good job of reading the defense for a freshman. Like he knows how you’re playing him.”

COLLIN HARTMAN

“Collin Hartman is a knockdown shooter, but he’s going to continue to expand his game some.”

LUKE FISCHER

“He’s gotten bigger and stronger already. I think he’s already put on seven or eight pounds since he’s been here. He’s a winner. I think he’s gonna stretch and grow. He’s probably more likely than any of the big guys we’ve had recently to step out and shoot.”

Crean tweeted the other day that “I am getting a lot of questions about Peter”….talks about his shooting better..but still no contact..sums it up by saying “Peter can help us”. Make of that what you will. At least TC didn’t praise his wingspan.(again) I hope the young man regains his physical health and at least gets a chance to compete…but…..

IUMIKE1

You hit the nail directly on the head. Some overcome the adjustment period that you speak of and some don’t aka the ones that develop confidence will overcome and the ones that don’t WON’T overcome. Thanks for saving me the keystrokes.

IUMIKE1

Couldn’t agree more. Thinking the same thing again (hope you don’t think that’s a bad thing). Guess I have to double up on thanks on the saving me the keystrokes thing.

Made the, ” hitting the nail on the head ” comment above before I ever read your comment on this one. lol

IUMIKE1

I know you & I saying these things runs the risk of opening the Cody should have / shouldn’t have shot outside more debate butttt……. IMHO it would have made a noticeable difference in a few other games too and, again IMHO, in some of the close games last year it would have given us a little more breathing room or maybe even turned 1 or 2 close losses into wins. If I’ve opened “that” door, I guess let the debate begin. lol

skotchie

Last two seasons Cody was the only true big down low, it simply wasn’t C Wat’s game. We now have Noah & Luke so each will be able to do a little of both in and outside play, and if Peter is improving he will be able to stop up the middle while the other two have more freedom.
Cody was doing his job and he was the only one worth trusting to do that job.
Maybe its why he left early to become a more versitile player.

SC_Hoosier

Well, looks like I need to change my username….didn’t realize there was already one so close to what I chose. Home base is Aiken. You?

b_side

Worth noting that in two of IU’s biggest wins over the last two years, Wat completely shut down Terrence Jones and saved the game against Temple with a monster block.

b_side

Talk to Roy Hibbert

HoosierGym44

I would put Etherington in the bench mix as well. Maybe not right off the bat, but once he gets some PT and rhythm back I think he could be a valuable asset to this team. We could definitely use a 3pt sharpshooter for this team to go along with all the athletic ability. People forget he was having a solid start to the year before his injury.

Ole Man

I don’t know that “breaking down game film” qualifies you to make the statements you just did.
Wat was an avg to above avg defender, depending on whom he was called upon to guard.
It’s really that simple.
Yes; he occasionally would be burned by quicker players who happened to be burning everyone who guarded them.
That does not make him a bad defender.

Ole Man

No; you’re not. Stop being “unfunny”.

Ole Man

Hope it works out as you said. Don’t forget that some of Wat’s D “trouble” came about because of whom he as asked to play and/or our defensive sets. Quite often Wat was slotted in the 4 but asked to guard a 3 because of the other team’s lineup.
I think it’s harsh to a former player to trash them.
And I think it’s silly to conjecture that someone who hasn’t had the court minutes yet is “better”.
Just my humble two cents.

Ole Man

Good thought. Let’s see how it plays out.
I would bet that beginning the year:
We’re no where as good defensively as we were the past two years, team wise. Defense takes time to come together. It doesn’t just happen.
We get pounded on the boards–we’re short, light weight, and in-experienced.